Fixing the schools

Fixing the schools

I refer to Brother Barry Coldrey's article (May AD2000)
and to the secularisation of our so-called Catholic schools.

Br Coldrey's definition of the 'new Catholics'
summarises perfectly what my friends Blind Freddy and Snowy on the
trams have been telling me for years.

Br Coldrey set out three preconditions that must exist before we
can even start the process of change.

The first was, 'The Bishops need to issue a strong,
confident statement on the purpose of Catholic schools and
colleges'.

Even if this were possible it would only apply to diocesan
schools. The bishops have little or no authority over many of the
'Order' schools, including Brother Coldrey's own
Christian Brothers order.

The first precondition is really THE precondition since without
it the second and third preconditions will not eventuate. No matter
how efficacious the eight steps of the solution might be, they will
be stillborn.

The reasons for this belief, while being in basic agreement with
Br Coldrey's article, are set out below.

1. My children's generation who went to Catholic schools did not
receive a Catholic education.

2. My grandchildren's generation who are going to Catholic
schools are not receiving a Catholic education.

3. The number of religious teaching in Catholic schools is
negligible.

4. Lay teachers in Catholic schools who are of my children's
generation have not received a Catholic education and therefore are
not equipped to provide a Catholic education for the students in
their care.

5. Government financial aid has had strings attached.

6. There has been considerable pressure from society at large
and some teachers within the Catholic system to push for the values
of the post- modern, secular society.

7. Teachers who have a commitment to a truly Catholic
education are pressured to conform or suffer the consequences. For
some this means depression; others just leave.

8. There are very few male teachers in primary schools. Feminist
thinking predominates.

9. Genuine Catholic parents who want a Catholic education for
their children do not know how to measure the value of what is
currently being offered as Catholic education, because they did not
receive one themselves.

For these reasons and those listed in Br Coldrey's article, I do
not believe that the existing Catholic schools and colleges can be
fixed.

I do, however, believe that we can provide a truly Catholic
education for those Catholics who seek it.